This invention relates to a steering column assembly for motor vehicles, and more particularly to a steering column assembly which is adjustable and tiltable and which has a memory mechanism.
In the past, various tilt steering mechanisms have been proposed. However, such mechanisms have typically been complicated with many parts and/or have included parts which protrude outwardly from the steering column and which thereby make the steering column assembly more bulky than is desired. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,093, issued July 3, 1990 to Matsumoto et al., discloses a tilt steering column with a memory mechanism. But, this mechanism adds a substantial bulk to a portion of the steering column and requires a large number of parts.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,279 issued Feb. 19, 1991 to Doescher et al., discloses a somewhat simpler tilt steering system. But, this system is not believed to include a memory feature.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,444, issued to McKee et al., discloses a tilt steering wheel arrangement that has an instrument panel rigidly attached to it so that the operator has an unobstructed view of the panel in all steering wheel tilt positions. However, the steering wheel and steering column tilt positions are limited to a range of comfortable driving positions.